Ever Closer
by Vycksta
Summary: This was not right... the house was filled with a stony silence yet twelve people were living in it together! Can Sarah, one half of The X Factor duo Same Difference, solve the mini mystery?


**Title**: Ever Closer  
**Fandom**: The X Factor  
**Rating**: Perfectly safe from all those little squicks.

**Authors Notes**: I get drunk as a skunk last night and the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning? Nope, not about my vile tasting throat... instead I remembered that today is the nineteenth birthday of the female in my favourite duo ever and that I must write something to celebrate that fact. So voila, I produced this little darling.

Yes I am completely obsessed so hush your mouths.

Happy birthday Sarah! I'm glad that you and Sean got through another week and I hope that you get everything you want today and more! Plus I hope that I haven't got you out of character in any way, shape or form... -facepalm- Oh hark at me going on like they are actually going to READ this. Ptttt.

Reviews are the win, constructive criticism is a bigger win and Same Difference haters can plainly swivel on the middle unless you're questioning my writing. Author trying to improve and all here!

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The date on the calendar may have read the fourth of November to anyone who casted their gaze upon it, but the weather displaying itself for this certain day was anything but autumnal.

The sky was coloured in a cyan so vibrant and glorious it was exactly like somebody had stolen a set of disco lights from a nightclub and directed their beams upwards. Flowers that should have been wilting away for the winter were instead flourishing, opening their delicate petals out in full bloom ready for the usually sleeping bees to drain them of their sweet nectar. People who were walking down the streets were kitted out in t-shirts and light fabrics instead of the general autumn attire of coats, trousers and scarves... and the sun was casting its warming rays onto everything in its path, giving all items a faint yellow outline. This weather in itself certainly wouldn't have looked out of place in the middle of July... but at the same time it was like this was happening for a reason.

Despite the brilliant sunshine glaring through the window, Sarah Smith, one half of the cheerful and bubbly pop twosome Same Difference, was still contently sleeping in her bed, dreaming about the night before. The dream was a perfect one, to compliment the fact that her dream of being a successful entertainer and singer with her older brother Sean was getting ever closer. It didn't help that she didn't actually fall asleep till the early hours of the morning... but you couldn't blame her.

As Same Difference, Sean and Sarah were performing on the reality come talent show, The X Factor. After successfully going through all their initial auditions the siblings from Portsmouth had to endure they were eventually selected by their mentor, Simon Cowell, to entertain week in, week out on the live Saturday shows. Yesterday was not only a Saturday but it was also the third week of the live shows and once again Same Difference were told that the voting British public liked them and their rendition of S Club 7's Reach enough to keep them in the competition for another seven days. This was celebrated in a blur of immense glory and now Sarah was paying the price by lying in till the late hours of the morning to make up for partying and cheering till the early hours of said morning.

The time on the clock eventually ticked over to twenty three minutes till eleven and at that precise moment Sarah flicked her hazel eyes open... only to shut them again quickly as a result of the blazing sunshine filling out the bedroom. She squinted a look over to the clock and let out a groan upon knowing that it was a pretty late time to be waking up before slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes awake. Still trying to collect her bearings Sarah stared near drunken like in front of her and in her path of vision she clocked Sean gazing with a deep interest at the computer that was in the room she shared with him and two other singers who were in the same competition as the siblings.

"Interesting..." Sean mused after a small period of silence, breaking up the quiescence that had bestowed itself in the room. "Ah, happy days! Now this one is really touching, sis will like that a lot."

"Sis will like what a lot?"

"Oh, Sarah! About time you woke up you sleepy-head." Sean said blandly, trying to not only hide his surprise at Sarah being awake, but to cover up what he was doing on the computer. "Do you fancy some breakfast? Today it's my turn to cook in the house."

Sarah immediately sensed that her brother was hiding something, so remained undeterred in finding out what he was trying to conceal. "Sis will like what, Sean?" she said just as monotone, running her fingers through her hair and getting out of her bed. Yet before she reached the computer Sean instantly turned it off at the mains in one quick movement.

"Ooops, slip of the finger there!" Sean blatantly lied, getting himself a nudge in the ribs by his sister.

"You know i'll get it out of you eventually, so why don't you tell me now and save all the hassle and all the rib nudging and all the teasing i'm going to give you about what you did when the results show was over..."

"Yeah, that's true." the older sibling agreed, getting up out of his chair and heading towards the bedroom door. "But i'll only spill if you agree to have some breakfast. No ifs, no buts!"

Sarah let out a sigh from the corner of her mouth and put her hands on her hips, letting out another yawn and shaking away some of the stray hairs that had fallen around her face. "Alright, alright... you can tell me afterwards." she admitted defeat, flashing one of her trademark smiles at Sean. "Gimme half an hour and i'll be down, obviously I need to get some decent clothes on!"

"I suppose I can let you have that length of time to get ready." Sean stated with a hint of sarcasm to his voice, pulling Sarah towards him for a hug and said hug being gratefully requited. "Then when you're done I think Leon wanted to have a word with you about something, forgotten what exactly. You better speak to him."

Letting out yet another yawn, Sarah nodded as her accepting that she will speak to the teenager from West Lothian when she was washed and dressed. Sean then playfully patted her head and went out of the room, leaving Sarah on her lonesome... and straight away she went towards the computer and switched it on to see what her brother was sneakily looking at. Unfortunately for the young blonde though Sean was one step ahead of her and had wiped out the internet history for the week, leaving Sarah bemused as to where to start looking.

"You crafty boy..." Sarah muttered to herself, switching the computer off and developing a stronger determination to pester her brother and discover what he was hiding from her.

Thirty minutes had passed and Sarah was fully washed and dressed, kitted out in her favourite black hoodie that was partly covered with smiley faces coloured in neon blue and fluorescent pink. As she was making her bed and doing a general tidy up of the room she started to notice that the house was not full of the usual hustle and bustle that generally occurs. She dismissed it at first as still feeling rather shattered from celebrating being in The X Factor for another week but it wasn't until she left the bedroom that the reality hit hard; the house genuinely was silent.

Sarah stood in the hallway and strained her hearing to see if she could catch the sound of her brother laughing downstairs or one of the other eight acts left in the competition talking away like nobody's business... yet the only thing that she could muster was the gentle whistling of the wind from outside the mansion in London that all the performers were living in. This finally started to worry Sarah and she then started to pace down the corridor, eyes slightly widening from the silence that seemed to grace her.

"SEAN?" she hollered, clasping her hands around her mouth to try and project her voice further. "HELLO? GUYS? What are you all playing at?"

The pace that she was going increased into a slow jog as Sarah started to head downstairs to try and find out what in the world was going on. Thoughts that she had to go and speak to Leon and then pester Sean for answers were now completely dismissed from her mind; the only thing going around in circles was to get to the bottom of why the house was enveloped in silence. On the way downstairs she quickly and forcefully flung open the door that led to the bedroom that the five girls who made up the makeshift group Hope spent their nights in, letting out a growl of slight fury when she discovered that like the rest of the house, that too was empty.

"This is not funny everyone..." she muttered darkly to herself, stomping down the stairs as if she was determined to break them.

As soon as Sarah got onto the lower floor she instantly went into the kitchen, where Sean was supposed to be as he was on cooking duty... yet when she got there she saw that her brother was not in there frying up her breakfast, in fact the cooker was stainless and looked like it wasn't even touched. She then started to wonder if everyone had to go and meet their mentors to see what song they would be performing for the next live show and was about to curse herself for having such a late lay in when she heard the faint sound of talking coming from whatever was behind the door to the dining room.

"Hello?" Sarah instantly called out... and as soon as she spoke the noises stopped straightaway and she shook her head confidently. "Nice try Sean, but you know that I was the better one at hide and seek..." and with that said she turned the door and went into the dining room.

"SURPRISE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Once she opened the door into the dining room Sarah was spontaneously greeted with a flurry of popping sounds and was greatly covered in the paper that come from the party poppers. The room in itself was decorated in an erratic display of bright banners and balloons in all sorts of eccentric colours were pinned to the ceiling and tied to the many chairs in said room. The massive dining table that was usually in the middle of the room was now at the far end and was adorned with a red and white paper tablecloth while bowls of food such as crisps, Iced Gems and biscuits covered up the entire space that the table had to offer.

Clasping her hands over her mouth to stop any further wails of shock from coming out, Sarah quickly scanned the room to see who was in there with her. Standing very close to her were Charlie and Phoebe from Hope as well as solo singers Niki and Beverley, who were mentored by Same Difference's least favourite judge, Louis Walsh. Near to the five girls were two of the young male singers who were under the guidance of Dannii Minogue, Andy and Rhydian, both of whom were setting off more of the party poppers. Also in the room cheering like their lives depended on it were the other three girls of Hope, Emily, Raquelle and Leah while at the back of the room, in front of the food, grinning so wide it would have made Sarah herself proud was Alisha, the only singer mentored by Sharon Osbourne. She was leaning on the shoulder of Leon while standing by the pair of them clapping madly was Sean, who was highly amused at his sister's reaction.

Eventually all the cheering and the whooping stopped and twelve smiling faces all turned their attentions onto a still shellshocked Sarah, who seriously couldn't find the words that were badly eluding her.

"Mmm... silence. Pretty rare occurrence from you sis!" Sean laughed, earning himself a mutual chuckle from everyone else in the room but Sarah, who finally discovered her voice again.

"W-what in the world..." she managed to stammer but before she could continue Sean and Leon reached behind them and slowly brought out in front of them a massive cake that easily covered three square feet. It was decorated in icing coloured in a glorious snow white and was littered with many beautifully crafted red roses that were also made out of said icing. In the middle of the cake were nineteen candles, formed in the shape of a smiley face... and when Sarah saw that she could feel the tears coming and let one glide gracefully down her cheek.

"Happy birthday Sarah!" Sean called out and before Sarah could say her thanks everyone else in the room burst out into a very tuneful rendition of the birthday chorus.

Everyone took the time to either shake Sarah's hand to give her a personal birthday wish or to get her into a bear hug which she gladly returned every time. The candles on the cake were then lit and everyone sung Happy Birthday again to the grinning sister of Same Difference, who made a wish and blew out all nineteen candles on her first go. The next four hours went by in a massive blur of music, food and presents as Sarah celebrated her nineteenth birthday in a style similar to her joy of getting through to next Saturday's live show, grabbing Leon by the arms for a dance to Gwen Stefani while making sure that she consumed the most Haribo sweets that were also on the table. It was like she was living in a dream world and she certainly didn't want it to end... because after all, who doesn't love being the center of attention on their birthday?

The congregation then spilled out into the kitchen while Emily and Leah rustled up some pizzas and Sarah took a call on her mobile from her parents, who wished her a happy birthday and arranged to see her later in the day so she could get her presents from them. She also got Alisha to dance and tried and failed to do the limbo, calling Andy a cheat and flinging crisps at him when he managed to get the lowest... and while all of this happened that pearly white smile that appeared when she did her first audition for The X Factor with Sean never left Sarah's face once.

Eventually the party started to get quieter as certain acts were expecting visits from their mentors as to what song they would next be performing but it didn't bother Sarah as she was still having the time of her life. After giving Leon what appeared to be the twentieth hug of the afternoon as thanks for her present, Sarah then looked around the house for her brother. She eventually found him in the hallway upstairs, holding a small wrapped box.

"For me?" Sarah said playfully, fluttering her eyelashes for further effect.

"You know it is." Sean smiled, handing Sarah the box. "I hope you like it."

Taking the box from him contently and smiling once again, Sarah eagerly set about unwrapping the present that Sean gave her. With the paper removed to reveal a red box edged in fake gold, Sarah gasped as she opened it and saw that her brother had bought her a beautiful silver pendant that reflected the seven colours of the rainbow when the light caught it. She continued to stare at her present proudly before practically leaping on Sean to hug him, who laughed as he hugged her back.

"I take it I did well then?" he asked.

"Definitely!" Sarah squealed, nudging him in the ribs when the siblings stopped hugging each other. "It's really beautiful, just like how this day has been. I mean, I knew that today was my birthday but I still wasn't expecting all of this..." she said a little quieter, gesturing her hand towards downstairs to show that she meant the surprise party.

Sean smiled warmly, gingerly patting his younger sister on the head. "Anything for my baby sis who I adore so much." he said proudly, getting another hug from Sarah as his reward.

"Thank you so much Sean." she said happily, letting another tear make an elegant trail down her cheek. The siblings then stayed as they were for a short period of time before Sarah finally remembered the events of when she woke up, pulling away from her brother to look him in the eye.

"By the way, this all doesn't mean that you are getting away with what you were hiding from me this morning!"

"Oh yeah, that..." Sean said matter-of-factly, reaching into his jeans pocket to hand Sarah over a few pieces of paper that was stapled together in the corner. "Here you are."

Sarah looked confused for a few seconds but then took the document that Sean was holding and started to read its contents. Sean watched as his sister read the first part with that same small bit of confusion then couldn't help but grin as Sarah's little frown quickly became a smile that just as speedily became another cheesy smirk that gave Same Difference their reputation of being the happiest people in The X Factor competition. Sarah then looked up at Sean contently, letting another tear of joy cascade down her porcelain face.

"Where did you get these from Sean?"

"From our MySpace, which is where I was on this morning." came Sean's reply before launching into a mini explanation. "There were so many comments on there from people wishing you a happy birthday and just being so cool and so nice that I had to print the best out for you to keep. Then there's those congratulating you on not letting those bullies from school get you down." he paused as he wiped away another tear going down Sarah's cheek. "I know it got you down but you pulled through, you are on The X Factor and not only do you have fans who love you and love our music you are also living your dream and getting your revenge on those girls, which I think is the best present you could ever give yourself today."

"Aaaah, don't go all Leon-like on me now!" Sarah wailed happily, getting her brother in another embrace which was returned quickly before she pulled away. "But you are right. I am here in this competition on my birthday, i'm proving them all wrong and I hope I always will, touch wood. I am living my dream but the best thing about it? Just like as you were back at school, you are here with me and we are doing this all together... and that means so, so much to me."

"Same here Lil Smudge, same here. Now shall we go downstairs and see if Alisha hasn't eaten all the Haribo?"

"That sounds great to me Smudge!" Sarah agreed with her brother, putting the document of comments and her pendant in her left hand while using her right arm to link with her brother's own limb... and as Sean and Sarah went downstairs to more music and cheering, one thing could not be denied.

As children they were close but on this, her nineteenth birthday, the siblings that made up Same Difference were indeed closer than ever and no bullies from the past, Irish music managers or those who detest the pop genre of music could ever take that away from them, for the bond they shared was clearly unbreakable.


End file.
